TIME TO TURN THE PAGE

Baffert eager for good meet after 2012 one he called ‘Hell Mar’

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Trainer Bob Baffert arrived at Del Mar on Sunday morning to watch his horses work, but he hit a snag at the gate.

A parking lot attendant didn’t recognize the most recognizable man in horse racing, so he demanded a $10 fee from the Hall of Fame trainer because there was a gun show going on in the Del Mar Fairgrounds.

“I paid it because there was no way I was going to make any waves on my first day at Del Mar, not after last year,” said Baffert, who won seven straight training titles here from 1997 to 2003. His horses won a meet-leading nine stakes races last year, and he’s Del Mar’s all-time leading stakes winner with 102.

Baffert described his final weeks at the beach last summer as “Hell Mar.” Not to review it all, but Baffert had Richard’s Kid, one of his TVG Pacific Classic starters, sold out from under him by ownership just before the big race. His big horse, Game On Dude, was upset by Dullahan in the Pacific Classic. On that day, Baffert found out that Paynter, who finished second in the Belmont Stakes, was gravely ill. And a week later, Baffert lost his father.

Baffert is hoping for a calmer, better-news Del Mar this year.

“This year, I told (my wife), ‘I just want to go to Del Mar and enjoy it,’ ” Baffert said. “Bode, our 8-year-old, loves the beach. And the thing about Del Mar is it’s just cool to be here. You come here, and there’s so much vibe. That’s what makes this place great. People are excited. There are 45,000 people in the stands cheering you on. When you win a race, you feel like people actually saw it.”

Baffert, who had a heart attack in Dubai in March 2012, said Tuesday that he recently had an angioplasty to fix a possible blockage. But he said he’s feeling better and hoping to have a good summer meeting here and back at Saratoga, where he’ll ship some of his talented horses.

Baffert said his stable star, Game On Dude, likely will run in the Pacific Classic, a race in which the 6-year-old gelded son of Awesome Again finished second last year to Dullahan and fourth in 2011 to Acclamation. He said he has a good string of 2-year-olds, but that his fillies are a bit ahead of the colts right now.

Baffert, who is the nation’s second-leading trainer behind Todd Pletcher with 71 wins from 307 starts and $8,250,706 in earnings, still is awaiting the findings from a state investigation into his barn at Hollywood Park. Four of Baffert’s horses died of sudden death (out of 19 in the state) in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2012, and three more died (out of 17 in the state) in the fiscal year that ended June 30 this year. Trainer Julio Canani lost the most recent one to sudden death on July 3 when Akkadian, who was ninth in last year’s Pacific Classic, collapsed after a six-furlong workout at Hollywood Park.